Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Eastern Kentucky on March 19, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 72
Final Score
Women's Basketball
58
at Eastern Kentucky
72
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Women's Basketball Notes
2/20/2004 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2004
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -
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COMING UP:
The No. 25 Utah women's basketball team (19-5, 9-1) travels to Colorado Springs, Colo., for a 2 p.m. game at Air Force (3-19, 0-9) this Saturday, Feb. 21. The game will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.utahutes.com.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah's hopes of an undefeated conference record were erased last night at The Pit as New Mexico defeated the Utes 49-46, ending Utah's nine-game winning streak. Utah shot just 32 percent from the field and 30 percent from downtown on the game, compared to the 40 and 37 percent, respectively, of the Lobos. The Utes out-rebounded New Mexico 32 to 31, but turned the ball over 13 times. Sophomore All-America candidate Kim Smith posted her sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Shona Thorburn was the only other Ute in double-figure scoring with 11 points. She also pulled down six boards and dished out four assists. Junior Lana Sitterud added nine points, while senior Kelsy Stireman finished with four assists.
On the season, Utah is led by Smith, who averages 15.8 points and 7.5 rebounds, and Thorburn, who adds 11.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. As a team, Utah is holding opponents to 52.8 points per game and has an average margin of victory of 12.7 points.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
BYU's Ambrosia Anderson notched a double-double to lead the Cougars to a 75-60 win over Air Force Thursday night. The Cougars shot 41 percent (23-of-56) from the field, compared to the 34 percent of Air Force. The Falcons had three players finish in double figures in scoring. Shawna Neff scored 11 points to climb to 12th overall on the Academy's all-time career scoring list. Neff has 948 for her career and needs just 54 points to become the 10th player in school history and the first in the Division I era to crack the 1,000 point mark Letricia Castillo had 12 points and Amoy Jackson chipped in 10, while freshman Jacki Novak scored a career-high nine points.
The Falcons are led this season by Castillo, who averages 12.3 points per game. Neff adds 9.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Jackson averages 9.4 points and 5.5 boards.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah leads the all-time series with the Falcons 14-0. The last time the two teams met, on Jan. 22, Utah won 82-42 in Salt Lake. The Utes are 6-0 at home, 5-0 away and 3-0 at a neutral site vs. Air Force.
MWC STANDINGS:
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.UTAH 9 1 .900 19 5 .792UNLV 7 2 .778 18 4 .818 New Mexico 7 2 .778 15 7 .682 Colorado State 5 5 .500 14 9 .609 BYU 4 6 .400 14 10 .583 Wyoming 4 6 .400 8 15 .348 San Diego State 2 7 .222 7 15 .318 Air Force 0 9 .000 3 19 .136
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank in the top half of nearly every statistical category. Utah leads the conference in scoring margin (+12.7), three-point field goal percentage (.400), free throw percentage (.717), rebounding defense (30.8), assists (15.1), turnover margin (+2.5), three-point field goal average (7.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2), and ranks second in field goal percentage (.448) and scoring defense (52.8), third in rebounding margin (+3.4) and field goal percentage defense (.387), and fourth in scoring (65.4).
In conference games only, the Utes rank in the top half of every statistical category but scoring, field goal percentage, rebounding, blocked shots, steals and offensive rebounds.
Individually, sophomore Kim Smith ranks third in scoring (15.8), fourth in rebounding (7.5), three-point field goal percentage (.404), three-point field goal average (1.7) and defensive rebounds (5.0), fifth in field goal percentage (.504), and sixth in free throw percentage (.720) and offensive rebounds (2.6). Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks third in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), fourth in assists (3.7), seventh in three-point field goal average (1.5), eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.354), 11th in scoring (11.6) and 13th in both free throw percentage (.662) and rebounding (5.5). Senior Kelsy Stireman ranks second in steals (2.1), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and sixth in assists (3.3), while senior Carley Marshall is seventh in field goal percentage (.460). Sophomore Julie Wood leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.493) and ranks seventh in three-point field goal average (1.5), while senior Mandie Little is sixth in field goal percentage (.493). Junior Lana Sitterud is 12th in three-point field goal percentage (.333).
RANKING NATIONALLY:
In NCAA statistics through Feb. 16, Utah ranks third nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.405) and turnovers per game (12.6), fourth in scoring defense (52.9), 11th in winning streak (9) and personal fouls per game (14.3), 16th in won-lost percentage (.826), 18th in three-point field goal average (7.0), 21st in scoring margin (13.3) and 24th in field goal percentage (.453).
LIVE BY THE THREE, DIE BY THE THREE:
Utah, which is shooting 40 percent from three-point range this season, has connected on 30 or more percent of its treys in all but four games (UC Santa Barbara, Oklahoma, Weber State, UNLV) this season, with two of those four games resulting in losses for the Utes. Utah has shot 50 percent or better from downtown eight times this season and won those games by an average of 22.6 points.
HOME SWEET HOME:
Utah, 10-0 at home this season, has won 26 games in a row at the Huntsman Center, dating back to the 2001-02 season. That is tied with Arizona, Louisiana Tech and Western Illinois for the second longest home win streak in the nation behind Texas (32).
Last year, Utah went a perfect 13-0 at home. It was the ninth time Utah recorded an undefeated home season in the program's 30 years of existence. The Utes' last home loss came on Jan. 31, 2002, when the team fell 79-71 to UNLV.
WINNING THE REBOUNDING BATTLE:
Utah has out-rebounded its opponent in all but seven games this season (UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Brigham Young, Colorado State and Wyoming), and three of the Utes' five losses came when they were out-rebounded by their opponent.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL:
Utah, which currently ranks third nationally in turnovers per game, has only committed more turnovers than its opponent on four occasions (Washington State, Northern Arizona, Montana and at New Mexico) this season. The Utes have committed 10 or fewer turnovers in six games and 15 or fewer in 18 of 24 games this season.
CONSISTENCY IN THE STARTING LINEUP:
Utah is the only team in the Mountain West Conference to have the same five players start every game this season. The Utes start three seniors - Mandie Little, Carley Marshall and Kelsy Stireman - and two sophomores - Kim Smith and Shona Thorburn. Stireman has started all but two games on her career (112 of 114), while Smith and Thorburn have started all 55 games since coming to Utah.
STEADY SMITH:
Sophomore Kim Smith has reached double digits scoring in 52 of 55 games on her career at Utah. She also has one or more treys in 49 of 55 career games. This season alone, Smith has at least one three-pointer in 21 of 24 games and has pulled down five or more rebounds in 22 of 24 games.
THORBURN DOES IT ALL:
Shona Thorburn, who ranks second on the team in scoring and rebounding, has reached double figures scoring 14 times this season and has scored five or more points in all 24 games. The guard also has at least one assist in 23 of 24 games, one three-pointer in 18 of 24 games and five or more rebounds in 14 of 24 games.
MARSHALL AND LITTLE DEPENDABLE INSIDE:
Senior post players Mandie Little and Carley Marshall have come up big for the Utes this season. Marshall has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 14 games, while Little has done the same in 13 of 24 games. In addition, Marshall has four or more rebounds in 16 games and Little has four or more boards in 13 of 24 games this season.
STIREMAN RUNS THE POINT, DEFENDS WELL:
Senior point guard Kelsy Stireman has at least one steal in 20 of 24 games this season. She grabbed three steals in four games, four steals in four games and nabbed a career-high seven steals against Weber State. She also has three or fewer turnovers in 19 of 24 games and at least one assist in 22 of 24 games.
WOOD DEADLY FROM DOWNTOWN:
Sophomore Julie Wood, the MWC leader in three-point shooting, is a definite threat from long range. Of her 41 baskets this season, 35 are from downtown. Additionally, all five of her double-digit scoring games came when she made three or more three-pointers.
SITTERUD COMING UP HUGE:
Junior captain Lana Sitterud has been huge in some of the Utes' recent wins. Against Wyoming, she scored 11 points, all in the first half, on 67 percent from the field and 75 percent from beyond the arc. Against CSU, she scored 15 points on five three-pointers, including three in a row, to cut the Ram lead to two and get Utah back into the game. On Feb. 8 at UNLV, Sitterud, defending RanDee Henry, held the junior to just six points on 1-of-11 shooting. It was the first time all season that Henry didn't reach double figures scoring. At Brigham Young, sophomore Ambrosia Anderson had 17 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Utah made some adjustments, putting Sitterud on Anderson, and the Cougar was held to just five points and four rebounds in the second half.
SMITH COULD REACH 1,000 POINTS THIS SEASON:
Forward Kim Smith currently has 380 points on the year. Combined with her 540 from last season, the sophomore currently has 920 career points. With a minimum of five games left this season (provided the Utes' season ended in the first round of the MWC Tournament), at her current pace, Smith would finish the season with 459 points, giving her 999 points on her career, one point away from making her the 18th Ute and just the second sophomore ever to reach 1,000 points.
SMITH NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR FEB. 2-8:
Kim Smith was named MWC Player of the Week for Feb. 2-8, marking her first career award. In a 56-29 victory at San Diego State, the All-America candidate tallied her seventh career double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while also picking up two blocks and two steals. In a 72-55 victory at UNLV, Smith tallied 20 points and 10 boards. She connected on all five free throw attempts vs. the Rebels and collected two assists and a steal. For the week, Smith averaged 18 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocks, while shooting 52 percent from the field (13-of-25) and 88 percent from the free throw line.
UTES PICKED TO WIN MOUNTAIN WEST:
Utah was selected as the unanimous favorite to win the 2003-04 MWC crown. The Utes received all possible first-place votes to repeat as MWC regular-season champions (coaches cannot vote for their own team).
SMITH, THORBURN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MWC:
Sophomore Kim Smith was tabbed as the MWC preseason Player of the Year and sophomore Shona Thorburn was also named to the preseason all-conference team. Smith earned Top Returning Player honors following a freshman campaign that saw her named MWC Player and Newcomer of the Year (a conference first), Kodak honorable mention All-America, and a Freshman All-American by both Full Court Press and womenscollegehoops.com. She is one of 35 players and just three sophomores nationally named to the Wade Trophy watch list.
Thorburn, a second-team all-conference pick last year, ranked sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. She led Utah in assists (3.3 per game) and minutes played (36.5) last season.
UTES ON THE RADIO:
All but two of Utah's remaining games this season (Feb. 21 and March 6) will be broadcast on KALL-700 AM. Anchoring the broadcast team is KALL-700 AM Sports Director Brad Stone. In his 14th year with the station, Stone is the host of the Ute men's basketball and football game broadcasts. Color commentary for Utah home games is done by Utah's all-time leading scorer, Julie Krommenhoek. Utah's 2003-04 road games are called by Chris Tunis, who served as the president of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association from 1999-2001. The Feb. 21 and March 6 games can be heard live on the Internet at www.utahutes.com.
INTERNET AUDIO/VIDEO BROADCASTS:
All Utah women's basketball home games are available to be seen and heard on the Internet. To get to the game broadcasts, go to http://155.99.112.235/wbball/ or go to the women's basketball page at www.utahutes.com and click on "Watch/Listen to Utah Home Games Live." To watch/listen to the broadcasts, you are encouraged to a have high-speed internet connection. You will also need to have QuickTime Player installed on your computer. QuickTime Player is free software available at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. Although this is an Apple product, it can be loaded onto both Apple and PC machines.
UTES MAKE FIVE TELEVISION APPEARANCES:
Utah is making a school-record five regular-season appearances on television this season. MWC women's basketball made its debut on College Sports Television (CSTV) last night when New Mexico hosted Utah. CSTV will also televise the MWC Tournament semifinal games on March 12. ESPN2 televised the New Mexico at Utah match-up on Jan. 25, and will also broadcast the title game of the MWC Tournament. Fox Sports Net regionally televised Utah's wins at CSU on Jan. 17 and at UNLV on Feb. 8, and will also broadcast the BYU at Utah game on Feb. 28.
UP NEXT:
The Utes return home to face instate rival Brigham Young at 4 p.m. next Saturday, Feb. 28.
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